For A Short Time
by Everybody's Neesan
Summary: Songfic. Sanji once made a promise to Vivi, but he'll never be able to keep it...


This is a songfic based on a song that's been bugging me for a while, as has this idea.

Well, duh I don't own One Piece. Or the song 'For A Short Time' by Weddings, Parties, Anything, either.

* * *

For A Short Time

"Thank you so much for defeating Crocodile and saving Alabasta," Princess Vivi said, her eyes shining with happiness. "Our people owe you an eternal debt of gratitude. Please, accept this feast as a token of our thanks."

"Food!" cried Luffy, and began devouring everything in sight.

* * *

The party lasted well into the night, as the people of Alabasta became accustomed to their pirate saviours and began to party in earnest, celebrating their newfound freedom with loud music, dancing and copious amounts of alcohol.

After several hours, Sanji began to feel suffocated by the party atmosphere, and ducked out onto a balcony for a smoke and a breath of fresh air. As he lit up and leaned against the railing, the light from inside glinted off blue hair, and he realised that he wasn't alone.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Your Highness," he blurted out, and straightened up. "I didn't mean to intrude."

Vivi moved forward and put a hand on his arm. "Why so formal, Sanji?" she asked gently. "We've been travelling and working together for a long time now, and you've never called me 'Your Highness' before."

He looked away. "Before, it was different," he said quietly. "We were working to overthrow a tyrant and restore you to your proper place." He gestured towards the party behind them. "Well, we've done that. And now… Now you'll stay here, and we'll move on, going after our dreams."

_Damn it! I wish I could say how I feel_, he thought to himself. _I don't want to be like Usopp, never telling his Kaya what she means to him…_

He dropped his cigarette and ground it angrily underfoot. "You'll stay here, doing what needs to be done rather than what you want to do… And we'll lose you."

Vivi's breath caught in her throat. "Would… would you miss me?" she asked, hope rising in her heart. After so long… was now the time to tell him?

"Of course we would!" he exclaimed, turning to face her.

She lowered her eyes. "No, Sanji. Would _you_ miss me?"

Sanji's heart skipped a beat. "Yes, Princess, I would," he said slowly, tilting her chin up so he could look into her eyes. "Terribly."

Their eyes locked and held, and slowly, Sanji moved forward until their lips met. The kiss deepened as Vivi returned it, drinking in his taste of smoke and expensive wine. When it broke, she stepped into his embrace and nestled her head against his shirt.

"I love you, Sanji," she whispered. "I have right from the start."

"And I love you, Vivi," he replied, breathing in her scent of desert roses.

"Marry me, Sanji," she said, looking up at him. "Stay with me, and be my prince."

* * *

Sanji looked down at her, his mind in turmoil. He loved Vivi, but did he love her enough to give up his dream and his nakama for her?

Vivi saw the conflict on his face, and sighed inwardly. "I'm sorry, Sanji," she said at last. "It's not fair of me to ask you to choose between me and the crew. Go with them. Find the All Blue, and help the others with their dreams."

Sanji smiled gently. "As soon as I do, I'll come back to you," he promised. "I promise; I'll return in a just a short while. And then, my dear princess, I will be happy to marry you and be yours for the rest of our lives."

They kissed once more, gently, and returned to the party.

* * *

_Several years later…_

"No…" whispered Sanji. "It can't be…"

He reached out with a shaking hand and plucked the newspaper from Nami's hands, whose protests were silenced by the pallor of his face.

"What is it, Sanji?" she asked, concern colouring her voice.

Sanji didn't hear her. His eyes were fixed on the headline that spread across the top of the front page: 'ALABASTA'S PRINCESS DEAD OF MYSTERY ILLNESS'.

He scanned the article, but the words swam before his eyes and refused to make sense. Occasional words like 'sudden', 'epidemic' and 'tragic' leapt out at him, and when he read his princess' name, it felt like it was branded in letters of fire across his heart and soul.

Nami, coming and reading over his shoulder, let out a gasp of shock and horror that Sanji was too numb to hear, and called for the others. They came at a run, filling the galley with their noisy questions and complaints, but Sanji didn't notice. He was suddenly so _empty_. For so many years now, his promise to return to Vivi had been the centre of his being, and to have it torn away from him…

Sanji thrust himself away from the kitchen table and walked out the door, his hands in his pockets and his shoulders slumped. As he left, Luffy, Usopp and Chopper's wails built to a crescendo while Nami sobbed, Zolo went stone-faced and Robin remained calm, though the hint of a tear glistened in the corner of her eye.

* * *

Sanji shuffled across the deck and down the ladder, his feet dragging listlessly. He felt like he should be crying, but his eyes remained dry. He knew that somewhere inside, there were enough tears falling for him to drown in them, but on the outside, he was calm and collected as ever.

Reaching the boys' cabin, he went to the chest where he kept his belongings, and dug down right to the bottom for one of his most treasured possessions. Gazing at it and brushing his fingers against the glass, Sanji climbed into his hammock and held it to his chest, his dry eyes staring sightlessly at the ceiling above as he became lost in memories.

* * *

It had been such a wonderful night. After coming back in from the balcony, Sanji and Vivi had rejoined the party, though they spent as much time together as possible. At one point during the night, Sanji had been dancing attendance on Nami as Luffy, Usopp and Chopper danced together nearby. Zolo had wandered past and snorted at the cook's antics, who had promptly stuck his tongue out at him, drunk on joy and wine. At the last moment, he had noticed Vivi pointing the camera at them, but didn't have time to pull his tongue in before the flash went off.

* * *

He ran his fingers over the picture again. He didn't like the picture itself, but it was the only one he had of the most special night of his life. "You'd think I'd have taken a picture of her at some point," he remarked to himself, his voice hoarse. "She was with us for quite a while; easily long enough for a simple picture. But I couldn't even manage that."

"What was that, shit cook?" Zolo asked, entering the cabin. "Couldn't manage what?"

"None of your business!" Sanji snapped. To his horror, he suddenly felt the tears that had been building inside him begin to prick at the corners of his eyes. He turned his back on Zolo, not wanting the swordsman to see him cry.

Taking Sanji's abrupt move as the usual 'I-don't-want-to-talk-to-you', Zolo shrugged and left the cabin again. _See, Nami,_ he thought scornfully.

* * *

"See, Zolo?" Nami said triumphantly. "There _is_ something wrong!"

Luffy, being his usual hungry self, had gone to beg the secluded Sanji to make him something to eat, and had come back with a dazed look on his face. "He… gave me the key," he mumbled, holding up the key to the fridge so the crew could see it. In a flash, the dazed look disappeared and was replaced by a grin so wide that on anyone except Luffy it was physically impossible, and the captain raced to the unprotected kitchen.

"I'm going to check on him," Nami announced, getting to her feet. "Zolo, you go and stop Luffy eating our entire food supply, or you'll be paying to replace it all."

Grumbling, the swordsman headed for the galley, pulling Usopp and Chopper along as he went so they could entertain Luffy until Zolo stole the key back.

"You won't have to go far, Miss Navigator," Robin said to Nami from her deckchair. In response to Nami's puzzled look, Robin inclined her head towards the bow. "He came up on deck a few minutes ago and went that way."

Nami smiled her thanks, and headed after the cook. When she found him, he was leaning on the railing, staring into the distance. Nami moved up and leant beside him, debating what to say.

"Tell me, Nami," he said suddenly, his gaze still out at sea, "how long would you say is a short time?"

Surprised, Nami blinked. "I… I don't know, Sanji," she answered. "Why do you ask?"

"Just a promise I made," he said softly. "That I'll never be able to keep."

* * *

After Nami left, a single tear ran down his face and fell, lost amongst the spray thrown up by the moving ship. "I would have kept my promise," he whispered. "I loved you, Vivi, and I always will."

A stray gust of wind ruffled his hair and dried the tear-track on his cheek, and amidst its whistle, Sanji felt he could almost hear the voice of his beloved, whispering his name. He smiled, a sad, gentle smile, and left the railing to return to his life, his heart filled with her memory.

* * *

I know, rather sad, but I was in that sort of mood. Anyway, here are the lyrics for the song 'For A Short Time' by Weddings, Parties, Anything that this was based on.

Sometimes you can say more, in a drunken hour or so  
Than some people get across, in a life of lying low.  
And sometimes you can feel more, for someone you've barely kissed,  
but you don't see it at the time, and the moment that you've missed.  
For a short time, she was standing there,  
and you saw her, she saw you and you recall the colour of her hair.  
For a long time, you never thought of her,  
Then you heard she was gone for good,  
You might have cried then if you could,  
Would have looked foolish if you did, somewhere  
The tears are falling in your mind,  
For a short time.  
There's a photo of your gang, on the night she hung about,  
and you're looking like a wag, you've got your fat tongue poking out.  
But she's nowhere to be seen, you won't spot her anywhere.  
It was her who took the picture, you were looking straight at her.  
For a short time, she was standing there,  
and you saw her, she saw you and you recall the colour of her hair.  
For a long time, you never thought of her,  
Then you heard she was gone for good,  
You might have cried then if you could,  
Would have looked foolish if you did, somewhere  
The tears are falling in your mind,  
For a short time.  
Tell me how long is a short time, is it longer than two hours,  
Or a bit less than a weekend. Is it shorter than a year?  
Is it the time it takes to not complete your business with a person,  
With a friend you make in transit,  
to a daughter held so dear

By the way, reviews are not only helpful, but a good way of advertising too. If people leave reviews, they're more likely to have their own stories found and looked at, and hopefully reviewed in return!


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